The Nothing Girl: The Frogmorton Farm Series, Book 1

Getting a life isn't always easy. And hanging on to it is even harder.... Jodi Taylor brings all her comic writing skills to this heartwarming tale of self-discovery. Known as The Nothing Girl because of her severe stutter and chronically low self-confidence, Jenny Dove is only just prevented from ending it all by the sudden appearance of Thomas, a mystical golden horse only she can see. Under his guidance Jenny unexpectedly acquires a husband - the charming and chaotic Russell Checkland.

White Silence: Elizabeth Cage, Book 1

Elizabeth Cage is a child when she discovers that there are things in this world that only she can see. But she doesn't want to see them, and she definitely doesn't want them to see her. What is a curse to Elizabeth is a gift to others - a very valuable gift they want to control. When her husband dies, Elizabeth's world descends into a nightmare. But as she tries to piece her life back together, she discovers that not everything is as it seems.

A Bachelor Establishment

High adventure and dark mystery combine in a sparkling historical romance, by Jodi Taylor writing as Isabella Barclay from The Chronicles of St. Mary's. Bascombe, widowed and tied to an impoverished estate, has learned to ask little of life. With no hope of leaving, the years have passed her by. Lord Ryde, exiled abroad after a scandal, has returned to strip his estate and make a new start in America.

The Watchmaker's Daughter: Glass and Steele, Book 1

India Steele is desperate. Her father is dead, her fiancé took her inheritance, and no one will employ her, despite years working for her watchmaker father. Indeed, the other London watchmakers seem frightened of her. Alone, poor, and at the end of her tether, India takes employment with the only person who'll accept her - an enigmatic and mysterious man from America, a man who possesses a strange watch that rejuvenates him when he's ill.

Just One Damned Thing After Another: An Audible Original Drama

Time travel meets history in this new drama adaptation by Marty Ross. When Max, a recent ancient history graduate, is offered a mysterious job at St Mary's Historical Research Institute, she quickly comes to realise this isn't any old stuffy research library. At St Mary's the historians don't just study the past - they revisit it. What begins as an academic exploration of events, such as the Peterloo Massacre, takes a dark and dangerous turn, and the historians of St Mary's soon learn that it's not just history they're fighting....

Strange Magic

Rosie Strange doesn't believe in ghosts or witches or magic. It's no surprise therefore that when she inherits the ramshackle Essex Witch Museum, her first thought is to take the money and run. Still, the museum exerts a curious pull over Rosie. There's the eccentric academic who bustles in to demand she help in a hunt for the bones of the notorious Ursula Cadence, a witch long since put to death. And there's curator Sam Stone, a man about whom Rosie can't decide if he's tiresomely annoying or extremely captivating.

The Last Necromancer: The Ministry of Curiosities, Book 1

For five years Charlotte (Charlie) Holloway has lived as a boy in the slums. But when one theft too many gets her arrested, her only means of escape lies with a dead man. Charlie hasn't raised a spirit since she first discovered she could do so five years ago. That time her father banished her. This time she brings even more trouble upon herself. People are now hunting Charlie all over London, but only one man succeeds in capturing her.

Rivers of London: PC Peter Grant, Book 1

My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit--we do paperwork so real coppers don't have to--and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May.

Rotherweird

Rotherweird is a twisted, arcane murder-mystery with shades of Deborah Harkness, Hope Mirrlees and Ben Aaronovitch, Mervyn Peake and Edward Gorey at their disturbing best. The town of Rotherweird stands alone - there are no guidebooks, despite the fascinating and diverse architectural styles cramming the narrow streets, the avant-garde science and offbeat customs. Cast adrift from the rest of England by Elizabeth I, Rotherweird's independence is subject to one disturbing condition: nobody, but nobody, studies the town or its history.

Dark Dawn Over Steep House: Gower Street Detective, Book 5

London, 1884. Sidney Grice is restless, having filed his latest case under S, for 'still to be solved', to await further inspiration. His ward, March Middleton, remains determined to uncover the truth. Geraldine Hockaday was outraged on the murky streets of Limehouse. Yet her attacker is still on the loose. But then a chance encounter brings a new victim to light, and it seems clear March and Grice are on the trail of a serial offender.

The Dead Dog Day: The Cora Baxter Mysteries, Book 1

When your Monday morning begins with a dead dog and ends with a dead boss, you know it's going to be one of those days. And breakfast TV reporter Cora Baxter has already had the weekend from hell, where the man she'd planned a fabulous future with unceremoniously dumped her. Now Cora's much-hated boss has been murdered. The list of suspects isn't exactly short, but as the enquiry continues, the trail leads frighteningly close to home.

The Invisible Library

Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, which harvests fiction from different realities. And along with her enigmatic assistant, Kai, she's posted to an alternative London. Their mission: to retrieve a dangerous book. But when they arrive, it's already been stolen. London's underground factions seem prepared to fight to the very death to find her book.

The Ruby in the Smoke

An unabridged reading of Philip Pullman's nerve-shattering thriller, set in the murky streets and opium dens of Old London. When 16-year old Sally's father drowns in suspicious circumstances, she is left to fend for herself in Victorian London. Although she doesn't know it, she is already in terrible danger.

The Mangle Street Murders

Gower Street, London, 1882: Sidney Grice, London's most famous personal detective, is expecting a visitor. He drains his fifth pot of morning tea, and glances outside, where a young, plain woman picks her way between the piles of horse-dung towards his front door. Sidney Grice shudders. For heaven's sake - she is wearing brown shoes. The Mangle Street Murders is for those who like their crime original, atmospheric, and very, very funny.

The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency: The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Book 1

Wayward daughters. Missing Husbands. Philandering partners. Curious conmen. If you've got a problem, and no one else can help you, then pay a visit to Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's only - and finest - female private detective. Her methods may not be conventional, and her manner not exactly Miss Marple, but she's got warmth, wit and canny intuition on her side, not to mention Mr J.L.B. Maketoni, the charming proprietor of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors.

Inspector Hobbes and the Blood: Unhuman, Book 1

Set in a small Cotswold town,
Inspector Hobbes and the Blood is a fast-paced comedy cozy mystery fantasy about the adventures of Andy, an incompetent reporter, when he is reluctantly working with Inspector Hobbes, a police detective with a reputation. Andy soon finds himself immersed in a world where not everyone is human, and a late-night visit to a churchyard nearly results in grave consequences, and a ghoulish outcome. An accidental fire leads to Andy having to doss in Hobbes's spare room.

Slouch Witch: The Lazy Girl's Guide to Magic, Book 1

Let's get one thing straight - Ivy Wilde is not a heroine. In fact she's probably the last witch in the world you'd call if you needed a magical helping hand, regardless of her actual abilities. If it were down to Ivy, she'd spend all day every day on her sofa, where she could watch TV, munch junk food, and talk to her feline familiar to her heart's content. However, when a bureaucratic disaster ends up with Ivy as the victim of a case of mistaken identity, she's yanked very unwillingly into Arcane Branch.

The Outcasts of Time

December 1348: With the country in the grip of the Black Death, brothers John and William fear that they will shortly die and go to Hell. But as the end draws near, they are given an unexpected choice: either to go home and spend their last six days in their familiar world or to search for salvation across the forthcoming centuries - living each one of their remaining days 99 years after the last. John and William choose the future and find themselves in 1447, ignorant of almost everything going on....

Publisher's Summary

It’s Christmas, and Jenny Checkland is beset with problems. The vicar, who really should know better, has asked to borrow Marilyn the donkey for the nativity play, thereby unleashing chaos on the already chaos-laden Frogmorton Farm.

Will Marilyn survive her bath? Will anyone survive Marilyn’s bath?

Robbed of her role as the Virgin Mary, what revenge is the angel Gabriel plotting? Why is that sheep so fat?

Will Charlie ever get to say his one line? Can Marilyn be prevented from eating the baby Jesus? Where is Thomas, who promised he would be there? And worst of all - will Russell, lost on the moor in a blizzard, make it back in time for the birth of his first child? Or even at all?

Another chance to meet the characters from the best-selling novel The Nothing Girl as they navigate the complexities of the local nativity play in their own unique fashion.

Jodi Taylor has a lovely sense of humour finding the funny side of life, her books are a joy to listen to if you want a humour full everyday story with no descriptive murders or unnecessary nastiness. As much as I enjoy a good detective story Jodi's books are comforting and the narrator, Lucy, is brilliant.

I read this 'short' before its associated book, accidentally thinking it was part of the St Mary's Chronicles. Consequently, i didn't enjoy it and had no intention of reading The Nothing Girl. However, having withdrawal symptoms with no St Mary's left to read and having read Bachelor Establishment, i decided to get Nothing Girl after all. I absolutely loved it, and so listened again to Little Donkey straight after, and this time enjoyed it. The problem the first time was that i didn't know the characters. So, if you've read NG, get this, you'll love it. If not, get the other one first.

I thought it was an unusual and amusing version of A Christmas Nativity. It was most enjoyable. The readings were excellent. At first I thought it was a children's book, but changed my mind. It was the kind of book I would recommend as a Christmas gift for my favourite aunt.

THESE ARE NOT DEEP WATERS, IN WHICH, I WISH TO SWIMThis is a sort of pregnant Christmas story. Most of the reviews say read, The Nothing Girl, first. That title should speak volumes. The donkey actually plays a very small role in the story. An imaginary horse is the hero. This was a pretty average story and I have no desire to read about Nothing Girl.

14 of 17 people found this review helpful

Rynin

09/10/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Read The Nothing Girl first"

A wonderful continuation of The Nothing Girl. I would love to see more of these characters.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Marilyn Armstrong

Massachusetts

25/07/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Funny, charming, memorable"

Would you listen to Little Donkey again? Why?

I'm sure I will. It's everything you want a short story to be. BUT you really need to have read "The Nothing Girl" or it probably won't make sense. It's a short story sequel to the book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Little Donkey?

Probably the sheep at the Christmas pageant. I can't say more or I'll spoil it.

What about Lucy Price-Lewis’s performance did you like?

It was spot-on. She does what great narrators do: make you forget she's reading.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were a lot of moments that made me laugh which is exactly the movement I had it mind.

Any additional comments?

It's a lovely Christmas gift -- free -- and if you read the book "The Nothing Girl," this is one extra hour of enchantment before you have to leave. Until Jodi Taylor writes a full length sequel, it's all there is to do. I didn't think I would like anything Ms. Taylor wrote more than her St. Mary's time travel books (which I love), but these stories are delightful. Witty and funny. With just enough fantasy to make it out of this world.

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

motown

Bangor, Maine

07/06/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Wonderful"

But read The Nothing Girl first. This is a fabulous follow up and will not have the same impact if read as a stand alone.

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

Michelle

GILLETTE, WY, United States

28/03/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Lovely--Not a Children's Story"

I was aware of the short story for a while before I bought it. My first impression from the cover and short description was that it was a story for young -or very young-people. Finally, after I had read everything else by Jodi Taylor, I broke down and bought "The Nothing Girl" and "The Little Donkey."

I am so glad I did!

This charming short story is a lovely addition to the story of Russell and Jenny from "The Nothing Girl." It is perhaps best understood if you read "The Nothing Girl" first. Otherwise you might just be a bit confused by the references to and, finally, the brief appearance of Thomas.

Love this story and the narrator does a terrific job.

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

Tracet

Hamden, CT, United States

27/11/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"I do love Jodi Taylor"

This. This is a Christmas story. Not just in subject – a Christmas pageant and all its surrounds – but in the honest warmth and the quiet hum of those emotions that ought to be associated with Christmas: hope and joy. Sweet, funny, scary, droll, tense, witty, heartbreaking, hilarious – all the adjectives I have come to associate with Jodi Taylor, and another gorgeous narrator to add to my wishlist in Lucy Price-Lewis. No one can best Zara Ramm in narrating Ms. Taylor's work – but Ms. Price-Lewis matched her.

Dammit, Jodi Taylor, you made me cry at work. Again. You too, Lucy Price-Lewis. Oh, don't give me that "it's your own fault for listening at work" look – I listen to lots of things at work and very few make me cry. It's all on you two. Don't think I'll forget about this.

Quote that made me laugh and cry simultaneously: "I named her after you."

I can't wait till payday, when I can get my hands on Nothing Girl. I should have listened to that first – this was pure spoiler for that – but I'm fine with it.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Dani

16/10/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Love These Characters"

Short and sweet. Glad to get a little more time with these characters. A great dessert to the Nothing Girl.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Quinn

14/10/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Super Sweet Short!"

Enjoyed this sweet short story about the "Nothing Girl" family & friends! I'm attached this quirky group and hope Ms. Taylor continues their story.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Colonelswife

13/04/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Loved it - highly recommend "Little Donkey""

Loved The Nothing Girl - & since Jodi Taylor makes you fall in love with her characters , you are happy to know they are still going strong this short story . Hopefully Jody will be putting out another book soon . Also the narrator, Lucy Price-Lewis was excellent - her voice has a wide range for not just many different female characters , but for excellent male roles as well.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Megan Robinson

01/09/17

Overall

"Sweet Christmas story "

A nice continuation of the Frogmorton story. It won't make sense unless you've listened to The Nothing Girl first.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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